


Acrylic Stains

by Cydersyrup



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Also light-hearted humor, Alternate Universe - College/University, Art Student Johnny, Character Death, Childhood Friends, Friendly Bickering, Friendship, Garden references, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, Major Character Undeath, Slice of Life, Supernatural Elements, graveyards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23341522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cydersyrup/pseuds/Cydersyrup
Summary: As an artist, Johnny knows that some paints stain fabric for what may seem like an eternity.But at the same time, the colors add a nice touch.Kind of like blood.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 11
Kudos: 40





	Acrylic Stains

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 2 AM because I was in a mood and forgot I had classes the next day.  
> I regret nothing.  
> Please be warned there will be some triggering themes ahead.
> 
> Enjoy!

Tuesdays are Johnny’s favorite days. Not that it’s any different than any other day in the life of a college student (because classes are never cancelled on a Tuesday), but there’s something sentimental about it. Has been sentimental since he was very young.

Class ends without disruption, and Johnny packs quietly, wiping charcoal off his fingers and turning down an offer from Mark to go grab a bite to eat. He waves goodbye as the younger student leaves with Taeyong instead, the older of the two Lees making an offhanded comment about Mark having charcoal on his forehead.

Johnny knows his friends will forgive him if he misses one meal with their group. He literally sees them every other day of the week, whether he likes it or not. He knows their faces well enough to sketch them in his sleep.

Tuesdays however, are reserved for people Johnny doesn’t have the privilege of seeing every day.

He takes the long way home, walking around campus and down the main street leading to the residential areas. It’s just slightly past dusk when he makes it within two blocks of his apartment, and excitement builds in Johnny as he draws closer and closer, because he knows exactly what to expect.

A busy street lies to his left. A garden of meticulously arranged stones and colorful flowers to his right. 

And just before him, no more than two hundred yards or so, the plain white building he calls home.

“Boo!”

Johnny laughs at the face that suddenly pops up in front of him, deceivingly young and illuminated softly with the dying sunlight and streetlamps.

“How long are you gonna do that to me, Jae? I’m not seven anymore. It’s getting old.”

Jaehyun backs away, grinning in a way that makes his eyes disappear. “It used to work so well back then,” he sighs. “You used to be such a scaredy-cat.” 

As usual, his jeans are smudged with dirt and his gray hoodie is stained beyond repair with paint and other questionable substances. A particularly big brown spot rests just under his heart, surrounded by a bunch of smaller, more colorful splotches.

“Give it twelve years or so. People learn to anticipate by then.” Johnny slows his pace so Jaehyun can walk comfortably next to him. “It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Johnny, I saw you last month.”

Jaehyun's right, but a month is a long time—sometimes drawn even longer with three-hour lectures and nights of all work and no sleep. Johnny feels like he might drop dead sooner than he’ll be able to see Jaehyun one day. 

“You look awfully tired,” Jaehyun says, reaching out a hand to fan away some stray strands of hair from Johnny’s face. “Look at those dark circles. People can probably see those from Australia.”

Johnny laughs, though the action feels more than a little strained with how tired he is. “You try being in class from eight to seven, Jae. Try and see how you like it.”

“Ah, I’d love to, but you know, I’m perfectly comfortable where I am,” Jaehyun says, kicking a pebble with the toe of his shoe. It skids a couple feet, then falls into a crack in the uneven pavement. Jaehyun frowns at it, and Johnny’s suddenly reminded of the first time he met Jaehyun as a child, when the latter had the same expression on his face.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Johnny asks, watching as Jaehyun’s eyes suddenly dart to meet his. The darkness of his eyes is deep, so utterly black and hollow Johnny feels like if he looks at it long enough, he’ll get sucked into it.

And yet, he continues to stare.

People must think he’s crazy at this point, but Johnny doesn’t care. They can think all they want. He ignores a woman walking past them and waits patiently for Jaehyun to answer.

“Do you remember when you got me this hoodie?” Jaehyun says quietly, a small smile breaking over the frown as he gestured to the garden with the pretty flowers and stones. “I was sitting there, when you ran into me.”

Quite literally, too. It was here that Johnny gave Jaehyun this gift, less than two blocks from home, running down the pavement. He had the hoodie in one hand and some acrylics in the other. 

Some mistakes were made.

“Remember this stain?” Jaehyun points to a splotchy, faded blue swatch near his hip. “Pretty sure that came from you back then.”

Washing acrylic paint is like trying to scrub off liquid plastic. It's damn near impossible to get rid of by washing alone.

“Please don’t tell me you’re still holding that against me,” Johnny groans, feeling embarrassment flood his cheeks at the memory. They’re over halfway past the garden now, and the sky grows steadily darker with every passing minute. “I was thirteen, Jae. I didn’t know any better.”

“I’m not holding anything against you, idiot,” Jaehyun laughs. “I’m trying to be sentimental, jeez!”

“I’m surprised you can even remember as far back as that.”

Jaehyun’s face contorts into a look of mock offense, his hand held over his heart. “You wound me, Johnny. I might be lacking in a lot, but my memory serves me just fine.”

“You’re still wearing that hoodie.”

“And you’re not wearing yours.”

“I outgrew that thing years ago, Jae. Puberty was not fun.”

Jaehyun raises a hand to measure the subtle height difference between them. “Thank god it stopped. My pride doesn’t need another hit if you end up way taller than me.”

Johnny smiles and turns his attention back to the pathway in front of him. He likes this—meeting up with Jaehyun, their friendly banter, and walking home together as night begins to approach. Even in a safe little town like this, it never hurts to have a buddy. Sometimes the night brings with it things that would be better off left in the dark. 

Jaehyun’s footsteps are silent next to Johnny’s as they walk down what’s left of the block. Johnny knows for a fact that one hoodie isn’t enough for the chill of early spring, but he also knows that Jaehyun has long grown beyond caring about the weather. 

“Jae.”

“Yeah?”

“Does it ever get lonely?” The white building is close enough that Johnny can make out the individual plants hanging over various balconies. He turns to Jaehyun, watching the other boy for a reaction. “I only see you on Tuesdays. I don’t think even your family has come by to see you that often.”

Jaehyun shrugs, the action light and unconcerned. “I mean, yeah, but what’d you expect? Not a lot of people come by anymore, because they’re so busy.”

“You talk to your neighbors often?”

“I would, if most of them weren’t geezers or kids.” 

“Says you.”

“Excuse you, I am seventeen.”

Johnny cocks his head smugly. “I remember when I was your age—”

“I swear to god, Johnny—”

“Must be good to be young.” 

“...”

Johnny’s smile melts when he looks at Jaehyun again. The boy’s face looks almost sad. Johnny can’t say that he understands what Jaehyun is feeling exactly, but he’s learned enough from growing up that maybe some things don’t need to be understood right there and then. After all, he had a choice when it came to that. 

Jaehyun didn’t.

The end of the garden lay a couple feet away. Johnny slows his stride and Jaehyun follows, until they both stop where the gates around the flowers meet a brick wall just under the white apartment complex.

“Thanks for walking me home, Jae. Don’t stay up too late tonight and get some rest, yeah?” Johnny teases, winking cheekily.

Jaehyun sighs dramatically, seeming a little better than he was a moment ago. “One day, you’ll be the death of me, Johnny.” His eyes widen comically upon realizing the pun he just made. “Death. Get it?”

Johnny rolls his eyes. “Ironic, coming from you. Lame.”

“You love me.”

“That I do.” Johnny raises a fist, holding it out for the other to bump with his own. Jaehyun’s hand is cold, the rings around his fingers almost icy against Johnny’s skin. “I’ll come see you again soon, Jae.”

Jaehyun smiles, soft and fleeting. It’s a good description of him overall, fitting in both demeanor and physical form. “I’ll be waiting.”

* * *

Johnny walks the rest of the way home alone. His backpack is heavy when he rolls it off his shoulders. Out of it, he pulls sketchbooks and brushes and tubes of well-used paint.

Acrylics.

Once he’s back into his own room, with the window open to the night and lights beyond it, he looks out—into the open stretch of road with almost no cars, his university just beyond a thicket of blooming cherry trees, and the garden.

The garden with so many flowers in vases and pretty stones arranged neatly in semi-uniform rows. Nobody walks between the flowers on the ground, or tends to the bushes hugging the gates. Sprinklers automatically activate after some time, watering the lush lawn and washing off the day’s worth of dust and dirt from the stones.

Johnny remembers his first night looking out of this window.

The first bunch of flowers he brought into the garden.

The first real friend he made as a child.

And towards the entrance, where there always seem to be the most flowers, he can see a white tombstone, decorated with children’s crafts and surrounded by colors muted by the night. It wasn't there when Johnny first moved into this building.

It has only been there for the last two years.

A grave for a young artist.

The moon is still there, but the boy is gone, so Johnny backs away from the window. He looks around the room, taking in the pictures framed on the wall.

Two little boys, hand-in-hand. Covered with paint.

The same little boys, now young teens. Dressed in identical oversized gray hoodies. Grinning together like fools.

Two older teenagers, tall and paint-splattered, looking like twins in their state of mess in front of a colorful canvas.

A young man, alone, holding a paint-splattered gray hoodie, dressed in all black.

Johnny opens his closet and brings out a worn piece of clothing. The fabric is thin and stained with bright greens and yellows and all the other colors of the imagination. A familiar blue stain rests off to its side, right under the ugly patch of brown.

Blood is always so hard to wash out of fabric.

Like acrylics.

It's the only tangible thing from Jaehyun that he has left. That and the memories.

Johnny sets the hoodie back where he found it.

Time continues to pass by slowly once again. 

**Author's Note:**

> "Gone in body and mind but your soul will stay with me forever."
> 
> ...And now I'm officially brain-dead...
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! :)


End file.
